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I've let this stew for a few days and now I'm going to post my proposal. It falls under the DMXP catagory.



The proposal requires an amendment to the actual rules set for the RPGA/LFR.

1) The DM selects one of his characters to gain XP and GP rewards for playing a module.

2) The DM checks his character's level against the level tier of the mod. For modules covering multiple tiers, such as "Jungle Hunt", use the level band played by the PC adventurers as the level band of the module.

3a) If the character's level is lower than the module's minimum level, the DM's character gets the average low tier rewards in XP and GP of a module at appropriate level for his character, regardless of whether the module was played on low or high tier, and regardless of the player's success or failure in the module.

3b) If the character's level is equal or higher than the module's minimum level, the character get's the low tier rewards in XP and GP of the module run by the DM, regardless of whether the module was played on low or high tier and regardless of the player's success or failures in the module.

3c) If the character is at a bridge level (level 4 or 7, for example) the lower band of modules is considered the appropriate rewards for the PC.

4) The DM received the "additional gold" reward. He may not select a magic item bundle or consumable for his reward.

5) The DM does not receive positive or negative story awards for his character. The character does not count the module as completed for the purposes of a quest.

6) The DM's character is not considered to have played the module. In this way, the same character can receive rewards for the DM running the same module multiple times, and his character can also play that module, and can receive rewards for running a module the character has already played.

7) The DM's character is not included in any actions that advance a card quest (i.e. Zhentarim Infiltration or In Slumber Remain).

8) The DM's character is not present and may not act in any way during the running of the module.


Troubleshooting:

The rules should be wordsmithed for clarity, but I hope to have made the intent clear - trying to avoid some abuses.

A DM and his players can agree to start a level 1 mod, all players immediately walk off the field or commit suicide, and thus the DM gets rewards.  By rotating this, people could quickly group-powerlevel with no effort. Some sort of "reasonable attempt to succeed" clause is needed, but at the end of the day, if people want to cheat or exploit they will. :-( Hopefully this sort of shenanigans will be disdained by the vast majority.

Mar 1, 2010 -- 10:29AM, aljergensen wrote:

A simple alternative would be to allow people to give themselves XP/GP as if they hade played MYREs of the appropriate level.    That way DM's can keep up with the group, people joining can play whatever level is being offered.

Would you expect to see any play of anything other than P1 play with that rule in place?

Mar 1, 2010 -- 10:55AM, aljergensen wrote:

If you offer interesting heroic level stories, people will want to play them.  But ... if a group wants to start at P1, would it really matter? 

If everyone's playing at P1, it vastly affects my ability to play a character linearly from 1st level.

Mar 1, 2010 -- 12:19PM, JRedGiant1 wrote:

I tend to agree with Thanlis on this point. There would be a lot of pressure to only offer mods of the highest tier available, and maybe an occasional 1-4 training module for new players. In theory, you can say that the option to level up a character is still there, but in practice, it wouldn't be - at least not for local gaming groups.

But people like you are why gaming groups exist.  If it ever became an issue, discuss it with the group organizer.

Or, as I said, limit it to situations where there's already games forming at a specific tier and you have 1 or 2 people who don't have a character at a high enough level.  If the choice is not playing at all or creating a higher level character, I'd rather play.

I can't speak to all gaming groups everywhere.  I've played in or DMed more campaigns than I care to admit.  Most people prefer to start new characters at level 1.

Allen.

Hmm. I think I meant to post this makeup post (forums died on me last night) in this thread. Wow, we really are debating the same issue across many threads.